Inter Milan are taking on AC Milan in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final on Tuesday night, but, perhaps surprisingly for such a high profile club in the modern game, they don't actually have a sponsor adorning the front of their shirt.
Instead it is left blank, with the Nerazzuri's iconic black and blue stripes left undisturbed. Inter first debuted their sponsorless kit during a 3-1 win against Lazio on April 30, and are continuing to do so as they attempt to reach the Champions League final in Istanbul on June 10.
Taking on their city rivals at San Siro on Tuesday night, Inter will once again go without a sponsor on the front of their kit. But why?
Inter Milan don't have a sponsor on the front of their kit due to an ongoing dispute with DigitalBits, a cryptocurrency blockchain which signed a multi-year agreement with the Serie A side worth €85 million in September 2021.
DigitalBits initially became Inter's sleeve sponsor, before transitioning into the main shirt sponsor. According to financial results, the firm failed to send €24 million worth of instalments to Inter, though, missing payments in June 2022, October 2022 and February 2023, respectively.
Inter’s corporate chief executive Alessandro Antonello also confirmed last October that the club was looking for a replacement sponsor, removing the branding from everything Inter related, except the men's front-of-shirt.
“[This] has not yet been paid by the sponsor, for which they have provided reasons that our lawyers deem unfounded,” Antonello said at Inter’s latest AGM meeting last October.
“Negotiations are currently underway to find a friendly resolution to the dispute. At present, it is not possible to predict whether these negotiations will be successful or not. If it is not possible to reach an agreement, the club will consider taking legal action to protect our interests.
“The club has already taken all the necessary actions on the market, initiating several discussions to find a possible new shirt partner through its own commercial structure so that the new partner can take over as soon as possible.”
Eventually, Inter suspended the sponsorship deal with DigitalBits in April.
Roma, also sponsored by the cryptocurrency blockchain, followed suit, removing the branding from their shirts at the same time. They have since added 'SPQR' to their shirts, which is an abbreviation for the Latin phrase "Senatus Populus Que Romanus", a reference to the government of the ancient Roman Republic that is a common sight throughout the city.
